Synopses & Reviews
Imaginative poems and intricate cut-paper illustrations combine to make the ordinary—a train ride—extraordinary and the extraordinary—a galactic car race—out of this world. Brimming with detail, the lively illustrations reveal something new with each visit. And the characters in the poems will linger long after the book is closed. Not So True Stories is a stunning debut from newcomer Carin Berger.
Review
It's a pleasure to have a new poet and illustrator dance upon the scene. Berger pairs inventive wordplay with equally inventive cut-paper collages. She plays with typefaces, layout, colors, and, of course, language. The lines form a whirlpool in "Very Best of Friends": "Wiley Croc and Goldie Fish were very best of friends/Until the sad and bitter day with which this story ends/While swimming slowly in the swamp/Old Wiley gave a yawn/He sucked poor Goldie in his mouth and/GULP!/His friend was gone." The images remain both fresh and accessible to young readers: "Rock-a-bye, rock-a-bye, lollipop moon/The sun's gone away and none too soon/For dreamy-time flowers are waiting to bloom/So come to me, come to me/Lullaby moon." This title has the verve of the very best concrete poetry books like Paul B. Janeczko's A Poke in the I (Candlewick, 2001) and the energy of the very best paper illustrations, such as Amy Walrod's work in Philemon Sturges's The Little Red Hen (Makes a Pizza) (Dutton, 1999). This is one "...super fine/Out celebrating all the time..." book. -
School Library Journal "Channeling Hieronymus Bosch, but with a smile, newcomer Berger services her collection of urbane nonsense verse with cut-paper collages featuring cone-nosed, stick-limbed creatures, most resembling insects in wildly variegated garb..." -Kirkus Reviews
"...the imagination at work here marks this author-artist as one to watch." -Publisher's Weekly
Synopsis
Imaginative poems and intricate cut-paper illustrations combine to make the ordinary -- a train ride -- extraordinary and the extraordinary -- a galactic car race -- out of this world. Brimming with detail, the lively illustrations reveal something new with each visit. And the characters in the poems will linger long after the book is closed. "Not So True Stories is a stunning debut from newcomer Carin Berger.
Awards and honors for "Not So True Stories and Unreasonable Rhymes:
Bank Street College, Best Books of the Year
About the Author
Carin Berger is a designer and illustrator. She lives in New York. This is her first book for children.